The subject matter described herein relates generally to an electronics system and, more particularly, to a chassis for an electronics system.
Many modern electronics systems function using at least one circuit card assembly. Most known circuit card assemblies include a printed circuit board on which at least one chip (or other electronic component) is mounted. The circuit card assemblies are typically mounted within a chassis that facilitates supporting the circuit card assemblies and protecting the circuit card assemblies from external influences such as extreme temperature, moisture, debris, and electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Moreover, the various chips of each circuit card assembly generate heat during operation of the electronics system, and it is desirable to remove the heat from these chips with reduced temperature rise over ambient in order to keep them functioning properly. In that regard, the chassis is commonly placed in conductive heat transfer with the circuit card assembly to facilitate conductively removing heat from the circuit card assembly. The exterior surfaces of the chassis then convectively dissipate the heat into the ambient air surrounding the chassis. As such, it is common for the chassis to be made entirely of a high thermal conductivity metal, such as aluminum, so as to provide adequate mechanical support to, and heat transfer from, the circuit card assemblies. However, an entirely metal chassis is often heavier than desirable.